North Korea is willing to continue (AP) nuclear talks with the United States in September if Washington provides new proposals, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said. Shortly after, North Korea fired two projectiles into the waters off its east coast.
 
Though U.S. President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in late June and agreed to continue their stalled nuclear diplomacy, the two countries have not held formal talks (WaPo) since, while Pyongyang has conducted a series of short-term ballistic missile tests. The top nuclear envoys from Washington and Seoul spoke on the phone (Yonhap) today to discuss North Korean denuclearization, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.

A new law will force UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek a three-month extension (Reuters) to the October 31 Brexit deadline unless lawmakers have either approved a Brexit deal or agreed to leave without one by October 19.
 
CFR.org explores what leaving the European Union without a deal might look like.
 
Russia: The United States extracted a CIA informant who worked inside the Kremlin in 2017 due to concerns the source could be exposed, according to a CNN report. The extraction reportedly left an intelligence blind spot (NYT) about Moscow’s plans for upcoming U.S. elections.

The country’s agriculture minister announced that more than seven thousand pigs (Guardian) have been killed near Manila in response to the outbreak. African swine fever has been reported in several Asian countries in the past year.

The head of U.S. Central Command in Afghanistan said the United States may accelerate its military campaign (Reuters) against the Taliban after President Trump said peace talks were “dead,” while Taliban commanders said they would continue fighting (Al Jazeera) U.S. forces. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani called for a continuation of peace talks, which he said first require a ceasefire (TOLO).
 
This CFR Timeline looks at the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

A Syrian security official said Israel was responsible for air strikes (AP) that hit Iranian-backed militia posts in eastern Syria. The militant group Hezbollah also announced it had shot down an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon.
 
Iran: An Iranian oil tanker previously held in Gibraltar has unloaded its cargo (WSJ), a foreign ministry spokesperson said. The ship’s docking near a Syrian port may violate EU sanctions.
 
On the President’s Inbox podcast, CFR’s Ray Takeyh discusses Iran’s possible next moves as tensions increase with the United States.

Riek Machar, a rebel commander who left South Sudan last year after a pact to end the country’s civil war, is in Juba to conclude negotiations (Al Jazeera) around the peace deal.
 
Nigeria: The Nigerian consul general in Johannesburg said his country will repatriate six hundred citizens (BBC) living in South Africa after a wave of xenophobic attacks targeted foreign nationals and foreign-owned businesses.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that 64,000 migrants (Reuters) were detained or turned back at the U.S.-Mexico border in August, a 56 percent drop from the record high numbers reached in May. Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet with U.S. officials today to discuss Mexico’s efforts to slow migration.
 
Bahamas: Evacuees from Hurricane Dorian will be allowed to enter the United States on humanitarian grounds (CNN) unless they have criminal histories and have previously been denied entry, according to the acting director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The attorneys general of forty-eight states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia announced a probe (NPR) into Google’s market dominance in search and advertising.

The World Health Organization called for more countries to implement suicide prevention programs after releasing a new report [PDF].